Teaching Letters AND Reading in Kindergarten: How to Use my Alphabet Decode and Draw Books in the Classroom
The beginning of the year in Kindergarten is magical. Five and six-year-olds are entering the classroom for the very first time, filled with wonder, and joy, and a whole lot of energy. Many teachers will say that it's the best time of year, and then quickly follow that up with something along the lines of, “But man is it chaotic”.
August is filled with the introduction of the basics, walking in line, sitting on the carpet, holding a pencil, drawing shapes, and just about every skill you need to go through the school day. Maybe you’ve completed my Illustration Unit or are just starting my Alphabet Unit. Teachers will start to introduce reading to their young students. This task can be incredibly overwhelming, especially when you have 20 five-year-olds who don’t even know their letters yet.
But like anything else we do in kindergarten, we go slow to go fast. We start with the basics, letter by letter, and before we know it, we have 20 readers and writers staring back at us from their carpet spots.
An absolute key to helping your students develop into readers and writers is giving them the chance to practice. They need to practice with a teacher, independently, and with peers. And if you can do all that while keeping their hands busy so that they can apply their newfound knowledge in engaging ways, well then you’ve got yourself something special.
And I bet you already guessed, I have that for you right here!!
The Alphabet Decode and Draw Bundle.
A resource packed full of fine motor, drawing, and handwriting practice that also gives your students the chance to practice finding beginning sounds and saying letter sounds. If you’re kindergarten teacher's heart isn't PUMPED UP then well… maybe you are just not quite as nerdy as I am.
What’s included with this resource?
When you grab the Alphabet Decode and Draw Bundle you will get 26 letter-based decodables. Here is a rundown of what’s inside each decodable.
Each decodable includes:
- Four beginning sound pictures and directed drawings for students to complete
- Reading practice on each page (practice reading and saying the letter sound followed by the beginning sound picture)
- Search for the letter
- Letter trace and write
How do I use this in my classroom?
I’ve created these decodables so that they are super simple to use. There is no need to add to the chaos of kindergarten if you don’t have to! Once you buy the resource here, download and print the decodable double-sided. Then staple!
At first, you could introduce this to your students' whole group. Place the decodable on a projector or somewhere where everyone has a good view and model reading through it. Take time to point out (or even complete) the directed drawings. Then model completing the letter search and letter trace or have a few students come up to help you out.
Next, I would have students go with partners and read through the book! This gives them the chance to show off their reading skills and help out their partners if they can’t quite remember the letter sound yet.
Finally, end with giving your students time to complete each page of the book. You could also flip the last two steps so that students have the opportunity to show off their drawings.
These books work great as an independent center rotation. They follow the same format for all 26 letters so once students are introduced to it and comfortable, they’ll be able to complete them independently!
Is there anything my students need to do BEFORE completing these?
Students should be able to hold a pencil, trace letters, and draw basic shapes before completing these resources. I would highly suggest completing my Illustration Unit before or simultaneously so that students are confident illustrators and know how to follow the directed drawing steps independently!
If you are looking for something to help introduce letters and give your students more practice with letter recognition and letter sounds, my Alphabet Curriculum is an awesome resource! It will give you plenty of activities for each letter and allow students to get a good foundation for reading.
What can I do AFTER I finish all 26 letters?
Once you’ve completed the alphabet, chances are good that you have some beginning readers in your midst! To keep the momentum going, grab my HUGE Decode and Draw Stories Bundle! These follow a similar format except they tell whole stories rather than repeating letter sounds. They are a great way to allow students to continue practicing those illustration skills while also improving their phonemic awareness, fluency, and overall reading skills.
